ALA Booklist (Fri Sep 16 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Struggling with her parents' amicable divorce and the closing of the California family bookstore that she's grown up in, 14-year-old Anna holds onto hope that a summer in Rockport, Massachusetts, will finally bring the good luck she's been seeking. But the new friends she makes in the charming seaside town are more than they first appear, and the truths they're hiding threaten to shake Anna's world even more. Anna's summer is grounded by Leno's delightful depiction of the town, which is colored by real-life details that readers familiar with Rockport will enjoy. This, along with Anna's realistic and candid emotional journey, sets the stage for the magical elements and surreal occurrences that Leno expertly drops like breadcrumbs for observant readers as they wait to discover the truth behind what makes Anna's new friends so special. Lightheartedly intimate change of pace for Leno (Horrid, 2020), who often delves into the macabre is will find fans in readers who enjoy Alice Hoffman and other contemporary narratives set in New England that come with a touch of magic.

Kirkus Reviews

A (literally) magical New England summer is the catalyst for reshaping a conflicted Los Angeles teen's worldview.Last year, Anna Bell got her first period, was dumped by her best friend, and experienced her parents' divorce. On her 14th birthday, her mother, Miriam, announces she's selling the unusual bookstore she can no longer afford to run. Like Miriam's mystical ability to recommend the one book that will change customers' lives, the bookstore changes its size and offerings. Despite not being a bookworm, Anna loves the store; it's her second home. Meanwhile, her dad's focused on his new tattoo business. Suddenly, Miriam and a dazed Anna head to the family cottage in Rockport, Massachusetts, that Miriam's inherited. Anna explores the seaside and marvels at the comet and meteors reappearing in the night sky after 28 years. Noticing Anna's moonstone ring, a stranger tells her moonstones signify a fresh start. That night, she's befriended by two teens and makes discoveries she hopes can reboot her parents' marriage. Inconsistency in the fantasy is a weakness, with Miriam's abilities and the bookstore's shape-shifting not being integrated into the whole. Readers will spot familiar time-travel tropes long before Anna does. Nonetheless, Anna herself-struggling to accept losses, her life upended by things beyond her control-remains compelling. If knowing her parents love her and care for each other doesn't heal her grief, finding agency is an empowering first step. Characters are presumed White.An intriguing coming-of-age story about adapting to unsought, inescapable change. (Fiction. 12-15)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Leno’s (Horrid) thought-provoking narrative blends past, present, and light fantasy to explore one teen’s transformative seaside summer. Fourteen-year-old Anna Lucia Bell believes in bad luck. It’s why her best friend is no longer talking to her, why her parents separated 11 months ago, and why her mother plans to close Bell’s Books, the family’s beloved California bookstore and Anna’s sanctuary. With her grief still fresh, she anticipates a miserable summer spent at her late great-aunt’s cottage in Rockport, Mass. While exploring coastal Rockport, though, she befriends book-loving Emmy and easygoing Beckett, both also 14. Together, they share the town’s timeless beauty, and Anna tentatively considers that good fortune brought them to her. When Kit-Hale comet appears over Rockport for the first time in 28 years, Anna wishes that her parents would “love each other forever,” and her summer takes on an enchanted quality, prompting her to look at her family, friendships, and her perception of fortune with new eyes. Leno’s meandering prose is gentle, and an undefined time line adds subtle magic to the narrative. Anna’s internal growth, facilitated by intimate character dynamics and an emphasis on friends and family’s importance, is heartfelt. Most characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (June)

School Library Journal (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 710 Fourteen-year-old Anna Lucia Bell is a firm believer in luck, and it seems that lately all she is experiencing is the bad kind. Her parents are getting divorced, her mom is selling the family bookstore, and she got into a fight with her best friend. When her mom whisks her away to a cottage on the east coast for the summer, Anna is skeptical. Once they arrive, however, an extended meteor shower brings about the possibility of wishes and new beginnings. Between reading and going to the beach, Anna discovers a pair of new friends who give her more insight into what she has been going through than she could ever have imagined. Leno immerses readers in an intoxicating small town with old-fashioned charm. There is just about an equal amount of time spent discussing what Anna's parents are facing as there is to her experiences. The time travel aspect presented in this novel is intriguing but is unfortunately underdeveloped and is not properly explained. VERDICT This coming-of-age tale of love and family with a touch of magical realism will appeal to readers who are around Anna's age. Aliza Mangefrida